


paisley rings around your eyes

by noknockback



Series: kuroken week 2019 [2]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M, and kuroo loves watching him, arcade date!, day two: gaming/arcade, how to get somebody in 'the mood': watch a documentary about ants, kenma is amazing at rhythm games, krknweek2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-11
Updated: 2019-08-11
Packaged: 2020-08-14 01:29:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20183998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noknockback/pseuds/noknockback
Summary: Kuroo and Kenma go to the arcade.That's it, that's the fic.





	paisley rings around your eyes

**Author's Note:**

> title is from tear up by area 11

**kitten♡:   
** kuro  
i’m bored  
let’s go to the arcade

oh? that’s new, kenma wanting to go out without kuroo having to ask him first. 

**kuro♡:  
** ok  
meet you outside in ten

kuroo pulls on a grey sweatshirt, grabs his keys and wallet from where they’re strewn haphazardly on the table, and makes it out of the door in less than three minutes. he walks over to kenma’s house and waits around near the front door, checking random apps on his phone to pass the time.

eventually, he hears the door open, revealing kenma in a black hoodie tucked into loose jeans. kuroo grins at his boyfriend, draping an arm around his shoulder and smiling into his hair, “hey, kitten.”

“don’t call me that,” kenma grumbles, but he leans into kuroo’s hold anyway as they make their way to the arcade. 

kuroo makes some small talk on the journey there, his hand dropping down to brush against kenma’s own, because the younger isn’t a fan of being so touchy in public. as they pass by a record store, kenma mentions that his favourite band had just released a new song, and kuroo makes a mental note to ask him for the title later to have a listen.

they reach the arcade, eyes adjusting to the dark room and flashing neon lights of various games, a cacophony of different sounds coming from all directions. kuroo immediately makes a beeline for the claw machines, stopping in front one that had neko atsume cat plushies. 

kenma looks at him skeptically because aren’t claw machines just to scam people for their money? but the older boy puts a hand to his chest and confidently announces that he’s got this, proceeding to slot two 100 yen coins into the machine.

it takes him a few tries, but eventually he manages to nudge one just enough that it falls into the hole, and excitedly collects his prize from the hatch. 

kuroo holds the cat proudly in front of kenma, then says teasingly, “doesn’t it look like you?” he’s right; it’s white on the bottom and yellow-orange on top, with black stripes running down its head and along its body. kenma shoots him a deadpan look, then stalks off to the corner where the rhythm games are located, kuroo’s laughter sounding out as he follows behind.

he asks if kuroo wants to try playing this one called “jubeat”, a machine with four by four panel of squares. “you just have to press the squares when the markers appear,” kenma explains, tapping his card and starting the game. it sounds easy enough, and kuroo’s played love live before, so it can’t be that bad, right? 

he chooses a familiar song, senbonzakura, and plays on the hardest difficulty, because a) kuroo has no common sense to start with easy, and b) he kind of wants to show off to kenma.

in the end, he fails spectacularly, missing a good portion of the notes, but still managing to get a d grade on the song. kenma claps sympathetically for him as he stares at the disappointing score, moving aside to let kenma work his magic.

it’s been such a long time since they’ve came to the arcade together that kuroo has forgotten just how mesmerizing it is to watch kenma play these games. it doesn’t matter what rhythm game you gave to him; he’d ace all of them, and with ease, too. that’s just how good kenma was.

kuroo watches with awe as kenma completes his last game, letting out a low whistle as kenma’s score is shown: a perfect full combo on a level nine song. 

kenma may be good at rhythm games, but the one he truly shines at is-

there it is! kuroo nudges his boyfriend’s shoulder with the cat plush and points at the circular white machine, a smile gracing his features as he watches kenma’s eyes light up. there’s two machines, and they’re both empty, which means kenma can play to his heart’s content without having to worry about competing against someone else.

kenma basically sprints to the machines, quickly getting the game started as kuroo leans against the wall behind him, satisfied with being able to watch the younger boy have as much fun as he wants.

as always, kenma’s flawless playing has kuroo in awe, wondering what he had done in his previous life to get a boyfriend so amazing and talented and _perfect _as kenma. 

it seems like kuroo’s not the only one who’s enthralled by kenma, though; a small crowd of people have gathered a few feet away from the machines to watch him play, and some even have their phones out.

he doesn’t want to alarm kenma, but it looks like the boy’s already noticed, what with him wringing his hands together between each song and his back unusually tense. kuroo waits until the last song ends, and before kenma can even turn around, his hand is already on the younger’s back, pressing lightly, guiding him away from the prying eyes of the crowd.

kuroo waits until they walk through the doors of the arcade before retracting his hand, asking kenma if he’s okay, and letting him hold onto the cat plushie when he responds with a soundless nod. 

he guides them back home, letting the silence linger on, knowing that talking now won’t help ease kenma’s anxiety. they enter kuroo’s house, kenma mumbling a soft “_ ojamashimasu _” and following kuroo to the living room, where he collapses on the couch, holding the cat close to his chest. 

kuroo sits on the other end of the couch, and kenma scoots backwards until he’s nestled between his legs, head resting on his chest. the older boy switches on the television, where a documentary about ants is showing, but neither of them really pay attention; kenma plays with the arms of his cat doppelganger, while kuroo presses a kiss to kenma’s head, hands coming up to wrap around his waist.

“love you, kitten,” kuroo murmurs, and kenma shifts backwards some more to bury his face into the crook of kuroo’s neck.

**Author's Note:**

> the game kenma played is called maimai and it's really cool  
thanks for reading! <3


End file.
